Marked by Darkness
by MarkedJames
Summary: Sometimes fate plays funny tricks on us. Maybe Edward wasn't quite the vampire meant for Bella. Who can resist the temptations of the dark world? This story is rated T for now, but if I get around to updating it will probably shift to M in later parts.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.

Ch. 1 A Dance

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Bella struck the camera out of James' hand. He had her pinned against the ballet banister. He moved his body into hers, causing her to lean back, the banister digging into her back as she tried to distance herself. The mirror was cool against the back of her head.

James' red eyes were staring directly into Bella's own eyes. She noticed the different shades of red that shot out from his pupil to the thick dark edge of the iris. His light eyelashes hung heavy as the two of them maintained eye contact.

Bella's breathing became less erratic the longer they stayed like that, until it was practically normal again. She noted that James didn't bother pretending to breathe like some vampires would to appear alive. The thought immediately connected her senses back to a moment in the woods with Edward. He'd had her pinned against a tree, trying to show her that he was dangerous. His breath was a cool wind on her face. Now there was nothing, though, just the still and slightly stale air of the studio hanging between her face and James'.

"I'm going to kill him when he comes, Bella. I'm going to have fun ripping his body apart and watching it burn." There was the breeze, cooling her cheek. Her eyes fluttered.

"You won't get that far, James. Don't be naïve enough to think that he would show up alone. The family will be here with him and you'll have no chance." Bella's eyes kept even with his. A calm resolve was building up inside of her, at her core. The nauseating twirls her stomach was making earlier were settling. Her heartbeat had slowed. Suddenly, she was no longer afraid for her life. She had – faith was the only word for it. Faith that Edward would save her again.

James laughed and the sound startled her a little out of her reserve. He grinned wider when her hands began to shake subtly at her sides. Moving his face just a centimeter closer to hers he whispered, "You underestimate me."

She gasped as he pulled away suddenly and stalked over to the fallen camera. It must have been a sturdy piece of electronics because when he picked it up the red recording light was still on. He pointed the lens at her.

"Now, tell your wonderful Edward that all you wish for, with the end of your ridiculous melodramatic life, is revenge against me."

Bella's jaw clenched as she spat out, "Fuck you."

James just shook his head with half of a grin stretching across his lips, "Oh Bella. When I first laid eyes on you, I never would have imagined you playing this heroine role right down to the last moment. What's it going to take to break you? Hm?"

He gripped the top of her left arm with his non-camera hand and hardly twitched a muscle. A hollow pop echoed through the studio and pain shot suddenly and fiercely into her shoulder. She screamed. He had dislocated her arm.

"Bella," her name came out as a tune from his lips. The lens of the camera was still pointed at her.

"You can kill me and I still won't say what you fucking want me to."

He slapped her across the face.

"Aagh! Fuck you! Fuck you! You need to beat up human girls to feel like a fucking man? Go to hell!" She spat blood into his face.

It was a stupid idea and she knew it the second she had done it. He licked the blood from his lips and his eyes grew darker. Her heartbeat began picking up pace once again. She wished it wouldn't. She knew James could hear the exact time of her bpm as it rose. He let the camera drop to his side and stepped up to Bella again. He pressed the entire front of his body into the entire front of her body. Her eyes grew wide.

His hard body was trembling against her. His non-camera hand was gripping the back of her neck tightly, fingers pressing into the soft flesh at the sides. Goddamn it, goddamn it, she thought.

"I have an idea, Bella," James sigh blew over her eyelids. She realized her eyes were squeezed shut. She opened them.

Any scathing comment she could have released onto him floated away and all that was left was one quivering word – "W-what?"

He chuckled deep in his chest. The vibration rumbled between their bodies. The point in Bella's back where she was forced against the banister was becoming sore. All she wanted to do was shift her position, but she was afraid to move even a millimeter.

"Bella?" James' lips were practically against her own. His face was slowly creeping down as his grip on her neck loosened.

"W-what?" She felt the word come out of her mouth but didn't really feel the act of saying it.

"Kiss me." His lips hovered that last minute distance from hers. She couldn't explain later why she did what she did if asked, but she did it. She closed the distance. Her soft, warm lips met James' cool mouth. It wasn't as though he was made of ice; he was a reflection of his surroundings. It was cool in the ballet studio so his lips were cool. They melded with her lips as she worked against them. She ran her tongue lightly over his top lip and he tasted the blood from her mouth. His fangs fell quickly and he nipped at her bottom lip, opening the tiniest of wounds. He sucked at them, her blood mixing with his saliva. Her discomfort against the banister was becoming apparent as she wriggled her body from side to side, trying to find a new stance. James pulled her away from it and crushed her body to his. She lost breath momentarily and James pulled his lips off of her.

When she brought her eyes back to his they were still dark but held a different sort of look for her. A physical jolt went through her. James wasn't smiling anymore.

Her body fell suddenly to the floor as he dropped her and backed away a couple of feet. She looked down at the smooth wooden floorboards below her. A medley of emotions were fighting through her but not a single thought ran with them. Her breathing was shallow. She was feeling light-headed. She looked back up to James. His face was stoic. It was the face a vampire gave when they were hiding something.

"I-" Bella couldn't run with a thought long enough to say anything to him.

At that moment the door at the other end of the studio burst inward off its hinges. Sound came back into their world. Bella remembered the video of her childhood playing in the background.

"Bella!" Edward was at her side in less than a second. When she looked up in front of her James was gone. Edward cradled her body in his arms. He lifted her up and showered kisses into her hair. Her vocal chords seemed paralyzed. She hadn't even looked into Edward's face yet. He was mumbling apologies against her scalp. Her mouth gaped like words were going to come out. Edward looked down into her eyes. She looked back into the familiar topaz.

"Edward?" Her voice was a hushed whisper.

"Bella. Bella, I'm here. I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry." Agony was rippling across his perfect features.

"Edward," Her eyebrows were drawn together, a knot in the muscle of her forehead forming into a headache, "where did he go?"

I'm starting this fic because I haven't written fic in a LONG time, and also because there is a severe lack of exploration in the James/Bella category. It's such a fascinating pairing! I'd really love some critiques. I probably won't update often because of school, but maybe I'll get bored over winter break and explore this story a whole bunch. I'm hoping this turns into a larger piece. Let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters

Chapter 2: Departure

Bella woke up suddenly in the heavy darkness of her bedroom in Forks. A lingering vision of red irises hung at the back of her eyes. A cold hand was already resting on her cheek.

"Are you okay?" The whites of Edward's eyes were visible in the starlight that filtered in through the window.

Bella shook her face away from his touch. He recoiled gently. Her heart stumbled as he did so. She wanted to reach out to him but something was stopping her. She gazed in his direction longingly. His face was still.

"Do you-" Edward paused in thought. He seemed to be gathering words and discarding them just to gather new ones, as though he was unsure of how to put his thoughts forward. "Is there something wrong? With us?"

God, everything, she wanted to blurt out but held it in. The distance stretching between them was becoming greater and greater, despite the fact that Edward had been at her side since he had rescued her in the ballet studio. She didn't know how to vocalize what she was feeling. She didn't really know what she was feeling.

She looked away from him. She couldn't think straight when their eyes met. She couldn't think when she was around him. She had gotten so used to him doing the thinking for both of them. Tears slid down her cheeks and he hesitantly reached out to her. She let his hands wrap around her shoulders and pull her body into his lap. He cradled her and she started sobbing. Huge, wracking sobs choked forth from deep inside her gut.

"Bella. Why are you crying? What's wrong? Please just talk to me."

Bella shoved her head into his chest, letting her tears soak into his shirt.

"I just want to be happy," she sobbed into him, "I just want everything to be normal again."

She felt as Edward instantly tensed around her. She quickly drew her head up to look at him, "I- I- I didn't mean-" She was stammering, hardly able to comprehend what he must have been thinking.

Edward placed Bella's body back into its spot on the bed. He stood up with a deliberate sense of slowness and strode around the bed to her side. He placed a cold hand on Bella's cheek.

"Bella, I want you to know that I love you."

She grasped the arm that was outstretched for her, "You know I love you, too. You know that. I didn't mean wh-"

"Ssh." Edward's face shut down. His body was so still. "I love you, Bella, but I also understand the danger I pose by being a part of your life."

Bella's eyes widened sharply, "Edward. Don't. I don't care. My life was nothing before I met you. Nothing." Her breath came quickly into the large space between them. In and out. In and out. Ragged.

"I can't do this to you. It's not fair. I thought it would work out but it obviously has not. I've caused more harm than good." With that he turned from her and stalked towards the window.

Fresh tears burst from Bella. The sobs that had shook her body earlier were nothing compared to the ones that were rising from within her now. She screamed, her voice hoarse and painful. She yelled no after Edward had already jumped out the window.

She wanted to get up and run to the window. She wanted to follow him. She wanted to convince him that he was nothing but good for her. She wanted to touch him, but she couldn't. Her body felt paralyzed as she allowed the pain to pulse over her. This was her fault, she thought, this was all her fault.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters

Ch 3 Depression

Bella hadn't slept in three days and it was showing on her face as she descended towards the kitchen Saturday morning. Charlie wasn't awake yet. The clock declared 4:57am and it was still dark out. She dug the breakfast skillets out from the cupboard and arranged them on the stove. On her way to the fridge she stubbed her toe on one of the table legs. She burst into sudden tears and heaped into a chair. It had been like that for the past couple days. Every slight mishap brought extreme reactions of depression. Her small wails and loud sniffles filled the kitchen.

"Honey!" Charlie was in his bathrobe, haphazardly tied over his pajamas, looking horror-stricken at the entrance to the kitchen. Bella looked up at him and his face went white as he took in her cavernous eye sockets, dark from exhaustion, the red puff of her eyelids, her cracked, dehydrated lips. On top of that, her face was a slimy mess from a mixture of snot and tears that she just didn't have the effort to wipe away.

Charlie walked over to her and squatted on the kitchen floor in front of her chair. "You need to get help, Bella. Or at least let me in a little, tell me what's going on. Or call your mom! Tell her. I don't care. This just needs to stop."

Bella didn't reply. She continued crying, choking as each sob made its way out. Then the doorbell rang.

Charlie looked at the door, eyes wide. "Ah, shit."

The doorbell rang again.

"Bella, I'm sorry. I was supposed to go fishing with Billy today. I completely forgot. I'll go tell him we'll have to save it for another day." Charlie stood and Bella grabbed his arm before he could take a step towards the door.

"Dad," she managed to squeeze out between her wracking gasps, "please. Go. It's. Fine."

Charlie looked her dead in the eyes. His face was a picture of feelings unexpressed. "It's not fine, Bella."

The front door creaked open and a dark head with long black hair poked in. Jacob's eyes widened when he saw Charlie and Bella in the kitchen. He wasted no hesitation in stalking over to them and squatting in front of Bella, taking over Charlie's previous position. Jacob's long arm reached on top of the counter behind him and pulled down a paper towel, which he used to blot Bella's face dry. He wiped a couple remaining tears from below her eyes with the pad of his thumb and drew her into a warm hug. He looked over to Charlie and raised his eyebrows. Charlie just shook his head and raised his arms as if to say, "I don't know what to do."

Bella pushed Jacob away. "Please. Stop pitying me. Everybody. Go fishing."

Billy had wheeled into the kitchen. The three men stared at her in silence until her skin itched.

Bella stood abruptly and ran for the back door of the house. She threw it open and continued into the forest. Tripping over twigs and roots, she stumbled her way onward with no direction, just away. Every time her bodied jarred from a fall was a reminder of other pains, physical and emotional, hanging heavy on her memory. Eventually she stopped running, having tripped over a fallen sapling and decided to just not get back up. The earth below her was wet and soaking slowly, coldly into the back of her hoodie. She wasn't crying anymore. She was gasping for breath. She wished for a moment that she could get in shape without endangering her life.

Her whole body was sore, from exhaustion, from falling, from running, from crying. Every gasp of breath was a new shooting pain in some new spot on her body. She nearly welcomed it.

"You're pathetic, you know that?"

Bella's upper body whipped upwards from the ground. She twisted to the right and to the left but didn't see anyone. She recognized that voice.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own these stories

Ch 4: Into the Wild

A twig snapped behind Bella. She literally sprung to her feet, gathering an amount of gracefulness she never knew she had while she spun around.

His wild blond hair was still pulled back in the same low ponytail. He had stomped out from behind a large conifer in the same brown combat boots and low slung jeans he had been wearing before. His eyes were the same deep shade of red that Bella remembered.

"James…" she whispered into the rustling forest.

A sneer rose from his full lips and his arms crossed firmly over his bare front. His chest was pushed forward, his shoulders back, puffing up like a king rooster. He seemed to be keeping a purposeful distance from Bella.

A slight tremble started in Bella's legs and worked its way up. She thought she should run but knew she wouldn't make it far anyway. Her head twitched to the side as she wondered which direction was home.

"I wouldn't bother running, Bella." James' voice was just as low and smooth as she remembered. Her name had a tonal quality as it left his mouth. He dropped his arms and turned to the side. His gaze went to the earth as he began walking in a wide circle around her. He was still keeping his distance from her.

Bella stood as still as possible. She was scared, but it wasn't overwhelming. A part of her had already made peace with death. Another small part of her thought that the encounter might magically conjure Edward back up to her side. She paused at that thought. Did she want Edward back by her side, or did she want the safety he brought with him?

"Isabella." James shook his head at the ground, continuing his orbit around her. "I wish I had killed you in that ballet studio in Pheonix."

A terrifying grin stretched up to his eyes as he eventually looked up at her, "Guess I'll just have to make up for it now."

Bella's heart rate picked up and a light sweat broke on her skin. James turned an ear in her direction with a flare of drama as his eyes slid away. Then his gaze snapped back towards her and his smile grew even wider. She got a full view of his fangs as they descended, glistening white with what seemed like a sheen of pinkness that she may have been fabricating.

"Oh Bella, that's just what I like to hear. Your blood really is appetizing, but I'm sure you've heard that before."

Bella knew she couldn't run. She knew Edward wasn't going to save her. She knew nobody powerful enough was going to come to her rescue. It was just her and a wrathful, bloodthirsty vampire, in the middle of the woods where no one would even hear her last cries. A flash of her body, neck torn, eyes still wide in surprise, limbs at all awkward angles, blood soaking into the damp earth beneath it, flashed through her mind. She was going to die. It wasn't a question.

"Why don't you just fucking take it then? Take all of it." The words left her lips with pride. He could have her body if he wanted, but he couldn't take away her pride. She would not become a quivering mess for him. She would not grovel for her life.

James looked taken aback. He'd stopped his slow rotation around her and was staring at her in what seemed like disbelief.

"What? You don't like when your food talks back?" Bella figured if she was already digging a hole she may as well try to reach China. "I see. You're too weak to kill me when a whole vampire coven is on your tail so you wait to get the easy prey alone. You think I'm the one who's pathetic?"

James was at her in a split second, lifting her off the ground by the underside of her jaw. He held her there for a moment, squeezing tighter and tighter. Then he threw her suddenly backwards and towards the ground. Her back skidded as it hit earth. She slid a couple feet until her head met with a tree trunk. Pain exploded behind Bella's eyes. Everything went black for a second. When her vision cleared James was crouching over her, face inches away.

"I think you've gotten too used to safe vampires, Bella."

Bella tried to lift her head a little, her neck hurt like a son of a bitch,"I think you've gotten too used to docile prey. I'm not going to roll over and play dead, asshole." The rest of her body was numb from the shock of hitting the ground and the tree. She absentmindedly licked away the trickle of blood that was forming at the corner of her mouth. James' eyes caught the movement and followed it closely. His face was mere centimeters away from hers now. She noted again that he never breathed. She suddenly wondered what her breath smelled like, fanning over his face. Was she practically pushing the smell of her blood up his nose?

James was even closer to Bella's face as she checked back into the present. His full pink lips were parted just slightly. His eyes had seemed to soften, the red of his irises deep as pools of blood. Bella was looking right into them, her breath bated, unsure, when his look narrowed again. He threw himself suddenly away from her. Bella looked up at the canopy of the forest for a few moments. There was a haze of dull light filtering in through the branches. A soft wind was playing with the topmost layer of leaves.

She drug herself up with the heels of her hands and leaned back into the tree she had previously met with. James was a few feet away, crouched on the ground, head squeezed between his hands and elbows out. His eyes were shut tight. He spoke like that.

"What are you doing to me?"

An odd silence built between them that the forest filled with rustling leaves and the various sounds of animals living their every day lives. A squirrel hopped from one branch to another high above them. A mosquito buzzed around near Bella's left ear briefly then flew away. A twig snapped somewhere in some direction at some distance away. James' eyes opened again. They were glaring at Bella.

"You," he spat, "you've done something to me. I can't…" He stood and stalked further away then turned around and stalked back to her. He crouched over her aching body and moved his hand to grip her throat again, then stopped in mid-motion. His fingers curled into a fist and his face went down, away from her stare.

He fell forward, a knee on either side of Bella's outstretched legs. His face was hidden from her. "You…" His muscles were tense potentials of power. She was paralyzed, terrified, confused. She didn't move as he lowered hands to her thighs and gripped her there. He brought his face up to see her and she would have described the look he gave her as lost if she didn't know the cold-blooded murderer she was dealing with. He inhaled suddenly and it surprised her. She flinched and squeezed her eyes shut. He was going to kill her now. She felt his head move closer from behind her eyelids. She felt the coolness emanating from his face on her neck. His lips touched the skin above her artery. It was gentle. That scared her more. Her heart thumped blood at ever increasing speeds through her veins and she wondered what that sounded like to him, wondered if he felt the pulse under his lips. He had to have. He wasn't ripping into her. His lips were motionless against her skin.

He flew back so suddenly it took her a moment to open her eyes and realize he wasn't there anymore. Her head moved around tentatively as she searched through the trees for him. The ground rustled behind the tree she was resting against. She leaned to look around and behind it. The weight on her right arm reminded her of how hard she had hit the ground not long ago. She tried to hide the pain in her face when she saw what had rustled. The dark body covered only by a pair of cut-off sweatpants moving towards her from the dark depths of the forest was not James. His deep brown eyes were staring right at her as he approached.

"Bella?"

Bella's face was contorted in confusion.

"Bella, I'm Sam."

She quickly looked forward and around but couldn't sense James anywhere. She thanked heaven quietly. She didn't need a dead body that wasn't hers on her hands or her conscience.

"Uhm, hi." Her voice came out breathy and shaking.

"Are you okay?" Sam reached the tree, "Is there someone else here?" His eyes weren't set on her anymore, they were searching the forest. The look on his face was unsettling, his eyes dark and his lips pulled back in a frown, his nose flared like he smelled something bad.

Bella stood up, any grace she had mustered earlier disappeared in the pain that shot through her body. She was leaning heavily against the tree to help herself up. She grunted as she did so and Sam's face snapped around to look at her.

"What happened?" He seemed sure that something bad had gone down.

"Nothing," Bella managed to stutter out, "I was running. I fell. I… was trying to get away."

"From what?" Sam's voice came out forceful. His shoulders were drawn up and he stance wide, like he was ready to take off. His body was practically thrumming with a sort of violence to it.

"Fr-from home. My dad. Billy and Jake. Everything." Bella's legs buckled and she would have fallen if Sam hadn't caught her by the bicep. She hung from her arm held in his hand, feeling the stress on her shoulder socket for a second before he scooped her up.

"I'm bringing you home."

"I can walk."

"Yeah, seems like it."

Sam began stomping through the woods with her.


End file.
